There are many ways to say “rustic/organic” or nod toward southwest culture without reaching for only one, very tired typeface such as Papyrus. ![]() A truly creative designer should be able to explore a multitude of visual solutions where any element of design is concerned, especially with typography. If a specific typeface, color, style, layout or effect becomes too visually common, it looses it’s dynamic impact and tends to blend in with the sea of copy cat designs across the marketing media sea. Why is the overuse of a particular font a problem? In my professional opinion, any visual element used in commercial art is intended to attract consumer attention. I have seen it incorporated into the layouts of literally thousands of display advertisements, logos, menus, packaging designs, television graphics, signs, film graphics and on entirely too many web sites. It’s pen and ink, organic, "tribal" feel and rustic western appeal, ragged edges and loose kerning has been a designer favorite (or crutch?) for a very long time, especially around here in cactus land. The virus I am speaking of is the over use (or abuse) of a typeface called “Papyrus”. In more recent years, I have noticed that this visual malady has began to spread it’s seed across many other areas of these Unites States as well. Over the past decade, there has been a typographic epidemic plaguing the southwest ( and other parts of the typographically starved world) that I can no longer ignore. Here is my original post from October 10, 2012, and the genius SNL dramatization of how the "Comic Sans" of the millennium deeply impacted and traumatized one man, as well as a percentage of us designers. Then, on a recent SNL, Ryan Gosling and crew climbed inside my head, and nailed my sentiments with profound precision about the menacing font called "Papyrus." Thankfully, this visual plague is slowly but surely becoming a thing of the past and designers have moved on to abuse other “font du jours,” yet this recent comical validation truly spoke to me as I wept with joy. "The funniest thing about that whole story is I didn't even know it was Papyrus, nobody asked me! I just thought the art department had come up with this cool font," said James Cameron.Exactly 5 years ago today, I wrote a blog rant on my website about a typeface that at that time had vexed, disgusted and annoyed me on a number of levels as a Graphic Designer. He also explained that he had no clue that they used the Papyrus font for the logo and he actually thought that it was a something that was designed especially for the film. ![]() I said Alright, guys, we are now doubling down. I'm just astonished that they spent that much money on a little cinematic vignette that's around a, you know, such a whispy thin concept. The filmmaker told BBC Radio 1, "It's haunted me. ![]() Amid all the buzz, Avatar director James Cameron, in an interview with BBC Radio 1, quoted a line from the sketch and said, "It's haunted me." LOL. Well, the 2017 video resurfaced on the Internet, aligning with the sequel's release. The hilarious video features the Notebook star constantly complaining about the logo to the extent that it "haunts" him. After the release of James Cameron's Avatar: The Way Of Water, the Internet dug up an old SNL sketch featuring Ryan Gosling, in which the actor is seen obsessing over the use of Papyrus font as the film's logo to a very unhealthy level. A little more background for those who require one. The odds of chancing upon an old Saturday Night Live sketch titled Papyrus every time you scroll down social media are very high.
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